


Daisuga Week 2020

by Sunset_Sugawara



Category: Haikyuu!!, The Kane Chronicles - Rick Riordan
Genre: Ancient Egyptian Literature & Mythology, Cat Burglars, Confession, Crossover, DaiSuga Week, DaiSuga Week 2020, Kane chronicles au, M/M, Mention of Panic Attacks, Sharing a Bed, Slow Build, Some Swearing, daisuga - Freeform, fear of water
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:09:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26564149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunset_Sugawara/pseuds/Sunset_Sugawara
Summary: A collection of Daisuga Week 2020 fanfics <3This is the first fanfic I've posted here, I hope you enjoy these stories! These will probably be mostly fluff, maybe some mild angst, but all around a good time! I will be editing tags and warnings as new characters and storylines come out through the week. It might not be possible for me to able to finish the week, but I'll try my best :)Also I don't really know how to use AO3, this is my first time, so anyone lemme know if there's something wrong!
Relationships: Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi
Comments: 10
Kudos: 38
Collections: DaiSugaWeek2020





	1. Day 1: Strangers/Roommates

"And that's the last of it!"

Suga breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on a crate full of books, surveying his work. Disassembled furniture and stacked cardboard boxes cluttered the unfamiliar, but cozy apartment, hanging dust motes illuminated by the evening sun.

After a long confusing day of trying to find his new home, almost losing the movers' truck, and struggling to migrate all his things, he was ready for a break.

Filling up a cold glass of water from the sink, Suga walked up to the window over the kitchenette and opened it, letting cool fall air rush inside. He took in a deep calming breath and admired the view outside, watching cars and streams people pass by. Towering silver skyscrapers reached high past his apartment into the deepening pink and lavender sky, streaked with citrus clouds.

He'd never dreamed he'd be moving to Tokyo for college, it was a such big leap from his small hometown of Miyagi. It would take a while for him to adjust to city life, but he was ready for it.

The only thing on his mind at the moment was his roommate.

"Daichi Sawamura." Suga pondered that name.

He was supposed to arrive tomorrow morning, that's what he had texted him. Suga had never met this stranger before and, to be quite honest, was nervous to meet him. Holding a comfortable conversation with a complete normal stranger was no problem to Suga, but to be living with them? When you've never even physically spoken to or seen each other before? That was something Suga had never experienced.

He just hoped that he wasn't rude. Or sloppy. Or intrusive. The list of all the things he hoped his roommate wouldn't be slowly piled up, but Suga shook his head, trying to push back the anxiety.

I'm sure he'll be fine, he thought. Things usually turn out better than you think they would be.

He firmly shut up the whining anxious thoughts in the back of his head and drained his glass of water. Now, time to get to unpacking the essentials-

A tentative knock on the front door caught Suga midway of opening a box.

"Might be the movers… I'm pretty sure I got all I need?" He glanced around the room and he walked to the door, taking stock of everything he had.

As he got closer to the door, he could hear a muffled, exasperated voice of a man outside, talking to someone on the phone. Suga, curious, reached for the door handle and-

BAM! The door was slammed open, right into Suga's face. He fell backward hard on his butt, hands flying up to his face.

"What do you mean, tomorrow??" The voice was clearer now with the door open, and sounded a lot more irritated. "I thought I told you-"

Suga looked up, blinking in pain, and saw a young man standing there on a call. He was dressed in a comfy grey sweater and slim jeans, a red jacket tied around his waist. He looked about a few inches taller than Suga his short dark hair was messy from a long day. His mouth hanging open mid-word, he stared at Suga in surprise with dark brown eyes.

"Uh… sorry, I'll call you back later."

He snapped his phone closed and stepped towards him, face full of concern.

"Oh man.. I'm so sorry, are you alright? Sorry for slamming that door open, I was in a bit of a mood there." The stranger knelt quickly next to Suga, who, still dazed from the impact, continued to stare at the man, trying to process his words.

"Hello? Did I hit you in the head? Oh, your nose is bleeding..." He waved a hand in front of Suga's face, snapping him out of it.

"Ah! Oh, uhm, I'm fine," Suga tried to stand up, almost losing his balance. The stranger came to his aid and took a firm but gentle grip on his arm, leading him to a box to sit on. Cupping his hands under his face, Suga tried to keep his blood from getting on his clothes to no avail. The young man swiftly grabbed a roll of paper towels sitting in the half-open box Suga was working on earlier and handed a wad of them to him.

They sat there in an awkward silence for a few seconds.

"So… are you Sugawara?" The young man began tentatively.

Suga nodded, wincing, the paper towels against his face muffling his voice. "Then you must be Daichi."

Daichi nodded uncomfortably. "I'm sorry our first meeting had to be like this."

"And 'sorry' holds the current standing of 'word said most often by Daichi to Suga'!"

They both laughed, easing the tension between them.

"So, why are you here today? I thought you were moving in your things tomorrow morning."

Daichi grimaced at that question. "Apparently there was some miscommunication, and I ended up having to come here at this time instead of tomorrow morning. I thought that the movers were going to be available to move things this evening, but I guess not."

"So, you've got none of your things?" Suga asked.

"Nothing but my phone and the clothes on me," Daichi sighed. "Nothing to sleep on either."

Suga opened his mouth, about to suggest sharing the bed he had together, but he decided to stay quiet on that. Oddly, he felt his face blush at that idea. Stop thinking like that, he scolded himself mentally. You've only just met this guy, of course you'd feel uncomfortable, there's nothing special going on.

Now that he'd recovered from the door to his face, Suga took a good look at Daichi. He had to admit, he was somewhat attractive, a strong jawline, warm and welcoming eyes and smile, had a presence of quiet confidence about him. His eyes were what Suga stared at most. A deep shadowed brown that seemed to hold all the comfortable dark places in the world, like a worn plushy sofa sitting in front of a blazing fireplace.

"Sugawara?"

Suga pulled himself away from Daichi's eyes. "Ah, just - just Suga is fine." He looked around the room, trying to look at anything but Daichi. "I think I have an extra futon sitting in one of these boxes that you can use tonight. We should probably get to unpacking." Suga began to get up and head towards a box, but Daichi stopped him.

"You should probably get cleaned up and rest for a bit, you've been moving things all day." He put a hand on Suga's shoulder and looked at him with concern. Suga nodded, his heart skipping a beat for one second as he made eye contact with Daichi again. Headed to the bathroom to wash off his bloody face, Suga cursed himself and his emotional little heart.

What was up with him today? He was probably just feeling tired from an exhausting day of moving, rational thoughts tended to come scarce when he was running on a low battery.

Splashing cold water on his face to gather his confused senses a little, Suga's thoughts were pulled back to the memory of Daichi's eyes. He couldn't stop thinking of the sense of comfort that warmed his chest when he had looked into them. Suga didn't think he'd seen eyes like that before. Maybe that was why his thoughts were jumpy and emotional around him.

After cleaning up and making sure his nose was in good shape, Suga changed into a clean shirt his suitcase and headed over to the living room to help Daichi. About half of the boxes were open and things organized on the floor when Suga got there.

"Wow, you're a fast worker." Suga raised his eyebrows at Daichi.

He grinned back at him (his heart goes fluttering again) and shrugged. "I guess I just needed to take out some angry energy from miscommunication today."

Suga laughed at that and together they finished unpacking and managed to assemble a couple pieces of furniture before it got too late.

It was almost 10 pm when they realized there was no futon.

"Oh… well, that's a predicament..." Suga trailed off, glancing at Daichi. Strange, why aren't you mentioning he might have to sleep on the floor? The little voice in the back of his head asked. Shut up.

"I guess we could share the bed." Daichi said.

The little voice giggled at Suga as his heart leapt suddenly and furiously stamped it out again.

Suga noticed Daichi's face had flushed a little along with him.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Daichi mumbled.

"Oh, no, don't worry about it!" Suga assured him. "I'm fine, you've had a long day, too. You deserve something comfortable to sleep on." The voice opened its mouth for a dirty comment but Suga silenced the thought in time.

Daichi nodded in thanks and they both got ready for bed.

~~

Sleep was an awkward situation. Suga's bed was a quite spacious and comfortable size for one person, but not exactly for two college aged dudes.

The bed was against one corner on Suga's and Daichi's room (it was a one bedroom apartment, which had enough room for two beds, though it was only occupied by one at the moment) so Suga had tucked himself against the wall with his back turned to Daichi, who was lying as far as comfortably possible away from Suga.

"You sure are a blanket hog," Suga said into the darkness, trying to relax the atmosphere and his rushing heart rate. "Must be annoying for your girlfriend."  
I see you're trying to keep yourself away from any possibilities? The voice giggled.  
Please. Be quiet.

Thankfully Daichi seemed to catch on Suga's attempt to make him more comfortable and chuckled. "You're right about the first part, but no girlfriend here unfortunately."

"Really? Why's that?" Suga asked in polite curiousness.

"I guess... I've never been lucky when it comes to relationships."

That sentence seemed to carry something heavier behind its words, sobering Suga's heartbeat and, thankfully, the dirty little voice in the back of his head.

Suga pondered Daichi's words for a moment, then steeled himself. He turned over to face Daichi and stared at the back of his head, wondering what went on his life and trying to pry out a guess.

"Well," Suga said decisively. "It's not like you've gotten to know every single person in the world yet. You'll find someone out there, I promise."

Suga heard Daichi's steady breathing catch for a second. Daichi was quiet for a minute before he turned over too. He smiled gratefully at him and Suga thought his eyes had just a little more sparkle in the darkness.

"Suga… thank you. I really needed to hear that today."

Suga smiled back and he felt his heart rate increase again ever so slightly. Now for some reason the little voice didn't come back to bother him this time.

~~

After that Suga thought sleep would come a little more easily, but that was wishful thinking. He was still staring at Daichi long after he fallen asleep. He just couldn't close his eyes with his roommate lying next to him.

His mind drifted back to the question: what was up with Suga today? Yeah, he did have a thing for guys, but he wasn't really looking for a relationship, and he'd actually been doing quite fine on his own lately. What was it about Daichi that began the random train of thoughts that spiraled him into these over-friendly feelings?  
Suga remembered Daichi's eyes again. He resisted the urge to reach over and pry his eyelids open and look into his eyes again.

Daichi shifted in his sleep, moving closer to Suga. Suga held his breath for a second, his heart exploding into a nervous pitter-patter. He shifted awkwardly, trying to put more distance between them, but his back was pressed flat against the wall.

Daichi turned over again, and Suga barely stifled a gasp of surprise when Daichi's arm draped itself over his waist. He was now lying just in front Suga, still steadily breathing.

Suga paused here, debating what he should do. Daichi probably wouldn't be comfortable if he were awake to lie this close to him. Suga could try pushing him back, but that would wake him. And Suga didn't want to go sleep on the floor, he was already exhausted enough.

He noticed the little voice decided to come back, and it egged him on to just move closer to him, just this once. Ignoring it, Suga tried to close his eyes and just sleep, but he just became more aware of the weight of Daichi's arm on his waist. He opened his eyes again and stared at Daichi's face.

One of his eyebrows was furrowed slightly as his eyes moved around under his eyelids in a dream. Suga thought back to what he'd said earlier about his past relationships. He wondered if he could be dreaming about that right now.

Without thinking, Suga reached a hand up to Daichi's furrowed brow and gently pressed it, smoothing out the wrinkle. Daichi's face relaxed and a small smile crept across his mouth. He looked so at peace and… beautiful.

Unable to hold himself back, Suga inched forward, closing the distance between them and pressing lightly against Daichi. He buried his face against his collarbone, head tucked under Daichi's chin, and inhaled gently. He smelled… pleasant. Not just a simple nice scent of clean people. Pleasant. Comfortable, just like his eyes.

Carefully, Suga slipped an arm around Daichi and gently placed a hand against his back, feeling the curve of muscles and rise and fall of his breathing. He sighed quietly, breathing his scent again. Suga's heart was pounding so fast now, but there was a strange sense of calm in him at the same time. Now he wished that the movers would be delayed a couple more nights so they'd could stay this way again.

~~

It was early in the morning, before sunup, when Suga woke before Daichi. He felt his face still pressed against Daichi's warm neck and their were arms still around each other, but now Suga was completely sandwiched between the wall and Daichi. Their legs were tangled with each other and the blankets, making escape impossible for Suga.

And he was completely fine with that.

Suddenly Suga felt Daichi stir from his slumber, and immediately feigned sleep. Daichi's face shifted against Suga's silvery hair as he slowly woke up. He felt Daichi tense against him as he realized their situation.

Daichi began carefully pulling himself away from Suga, but paused. Suga could feel his dark eyes examining his face, as if to check if he were still asleep.

After another tense pause, Daichi decidedly returned himself to Suga's arms, this time pressing himself against his neck. Suga could barely keep is heart rate down when he felt Daichi's quiet breath brushing his skin and his arms wrap tighter around his back, lightly stroking his spine. He carefully snuggled a little closer against Daichi, making sure not to show he was conscious, and they stayed there for a long time, Suga eventually dozing off.

~~

The next time Suga woke up, Daichi was gone and the smell and sound of frying eggs drifted into the room. He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes. He stared at the divot in the bed next to him, wishing so bad that Daichi was still there.

Burying his face into the pillow, Suga took a deep breath, savoring Daichi's comfortable scent once more. He felt a ridiculous grin spread across his face as he remembered the way Daichi had lain next to him. The little voice whispered to Suga again, but he didn't care anymore.

He finally got out of bed, trying to kill the stupid smile on his face as he went out into the living room.

Daichi was standing in the kitchenette, already making breakfast and unpacking the last odd bits and ends.

"Well, what's got you up busy at this time?" Suga asked, reading the clock lying on the island counter, which now read 8 AM.

Daichi stared at Suga for a second before turning back to the frying eggs. "Uh… just wanted to get ready for the movers bringing in my stuff." Suga swore he could see his face flushing a little.

"I guess you'll have your own bed to sleep in tonight now?" Suga asked.

"Yeah, I guess I do..."

Suga laughed at the obvious wistfulness in Daichi's voice.

Flustered, Daichi turned to him. "Wh-what?"

Suga smiled back. "Ah, nothing. Oh, look, I think the movers are here." He got up and started walking to the door.

"You're going like that? Your hair is a mess!" Daichi said as he unloaded the fried eggs onto a plate.

"You should take a look at yourself, don't you say anything about me when you're in day old clothes!" Though Suga didn't quite mean that, Daichi had never looked better in the past 16 hours they'd known each other.

They both entered the hall and went down the stairs, bickering playfully as they went.

Suga was happy that Daichi was still comfortable with him despite that awkward night.  
It seemed to him that they both wanted to be something more than roommates.


	2. Day 2: Aquarium/Museum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is quite a bit longer than day 1! I just really wanted to elaborate more on my story, so I apologize for any mistakes you see, I wanted to get this out in time QvQ  
> Also there are panic attacks in this chapter, just a warning!  
> Enjoy! <3  
> (Also how dost one post with the rich text? i pasted my story into that format and it won't count the characters)

Glowing blue light dappled the cool tile floor under the glass tunnel, broken by the deep navy silhouettes of sea creatures swimming and gliding above. Morning sunlight shone through the boxed-in water, glittering on the waves and outlines of the animals’ shadows. The only sound present inside the hallway was Daichi’s own breath and the faint echoing footsteps of far-off aquarium staff. No one was ever in the aquarium this early, right at opening time, but he was an exception. He sat on a long stone bench in the center of the tube.

Breathe.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

Breathe.

Daichi stared up at the glass ceiling, squinting slightly as occasionally rays of sunlight flashed into his eyes. Slowly he closed his eyes, trying to calm his rising heart rate. His palms began to sweat as his fists clenched at the knees of his pants.

You are safe. This tunnel is going to hold.

There’s nothing to fear.

It’s just water.

Just water.

Just water. He was imagining it so vividly, he could almost hear the hundreds of tons of suffocating liquid weighing down on a mere tube of glass groaning and cracking under the pressure. A fragile cylinder of a clear, delicate material, with him sitting directly in the middle of it. There was no way he could run out in time if it broke. Iron walls blocked both ends of the tunnel in his mind, watching unshaken as deadly water hissed then roared past ever widening gaps, trapping him in a glass grave while he watched the shapes of creatures who would thrive while he drowned.

Daichi’s eyes flew open and he took a sudden breath, echoing sharply in the empty hall. The sunlight flashed again in his eyes and he shifted his panicked gaze to the floor, trying to calm himself.

Some strategy this was to overcome his fear. He didn’t understand why Suga thought cowering under the literal ocean in a tunnel he most certainly didn’t trust would help him get over his intense phobia of water. And it wasn’t just a simple fear of ‘deep scary water filled with big scary things’. He’d get this feeling standing next to a small river or an iced over pond. Closing his eyes next to bodies of water brought on visions of rapidly flooding riverbanks and the accidental slip that would send him into mind-numbing water. How could Suga ever be so at ease and even excited to be in the ocean?

Thinking about Suga calmed Daichi a little, as it had the last few times he’d visited the aquarium. He’d never thought he’d befriend someone who felt the complete opposite the way he did about the ocean. As someone getting a master’s degree in marine biology, Sugawara Koushi spent many opportunities in the field, or ‘in the sea’, as he used that term more often, recording experiments and collecting data. He was genuinely surprised, when he’d first met Daichi just that past summer, to hear about his intense fear of water.

Daichi smiled to himself as the particular memory resurfaced. His life would’ve definitely been a lot more lonely and boring without Suga.

~~

The burning noonday sun beat down on the small seaside town, making Daichi grateful for the shaded wooden bus stop, but it didn’t help with the muggy heat that stuck his cotton t-shirt and jeans shorts to his body with sweat. Adjusting the strap of his messenger bag on his shoulder, he sighed as an ocean breeze swept lightly against his face for a refreshing moment then faded away. He shifted uncomfortably on the warm metal bench he sat on.

It was just his luck that his college class’s summer trip had to take place right next to the ocean. His professor said that they’d be taking this special vacation as a chance to ‘find a new relaxing work environment’ and ‘socialize with his classmates’, but this trip had been anything but that. On top of the fact that his two best friends, Asahi and Ennoshita, had both been unable to go on the trip, he’d be staying for a week next to a place he hated the most. If he had known in time that they both wouldn’t be coming, Daichi never would have agreed to this trip. With them by his side, they could at least make him somewhat comfortable when he got anxious.

Daichi stared at the sky, streaked with clouds, trying to look at anything but the watery horizon. He’d hoped to spend more time with his friends and get an actual break from college, but evidently not. This summer was going to be filled with more anxiety than he wanted.

The sound of soft running footsteps broke Daichi out of his thoughts. He looked down from the sky and saw a young man jogging down the hill towards him with a weird bundle in his arms. As he got closer, Daichi saw that he was wearing some sort of wetsuit and his bare feet were awkwardly stuffed into a pair of sandals. 

The man began to slow down as he came nearer and seemed to be squinting at him. Daichi could now see he was holding what looked like a pair of scuba diving flippers. 

“Oh.. you’re not Oikawa.” The man said as he stopped by him. He had curious silver-grey hair, slightly damp with water and dotted with bits of sand, and warm brown eyes. There was a small mole next to his left eye and it squished into a cute oval when he smiled at him.

“Well, I just hope you’re not as annoying as him!” The stranger’s comment caught Daichi off-guard.

“I’m pretty sure I’m not,” Daichi said, feeling defensive all of a sudden. “At least, I’m not that annoying to the people I know.”

The man laughed, a high clear sound that lifted Daichi’s heart. “That’s good, I don’t need two Oikawas in my life.” He took a seat next to Daichi, flippers bundled in his arms.

“So, who’s this Oikawa you’ve been looking for?” Daichi asked, fascinated by this stranger.

“Oh, just a diving buddy of mine. We’ve got a project we’re working on and he was supposed to meet me here because he forgot his flippers on the boat, but...” He gestured a free hand at the bus stop around them. “I guess he overslept.”

“Overslept? At 1 PM?” Oddly, the mention of scuba-diving and being underwater didn’t bother Daichi. Hearing it come from this friendly stranger made it sound much more… peaceful.

The man laughed again. “I know it sounds ridiculous, but we went late-night diving last night for pictures and samples. It was pretty exhausting, but poor little Oiks also tends to be a bit of a workaholic for everything we do. Let’s just hope he doesn’t blame himself for it.”

‘Let’s hope.’ Daichi couldn’t help but smile at that. Here he was, thinking that he’d be all alone on this dumb trip and, as if sent down by heaven, someone friendly appeared on the first day of this ‘vacation’.

“What are you smiling about?” The man asked, looking curiously back at him. Daichi blushed suddenly and looked away, finding himself immediately focusing on the ocean, the one place he hated.

“It’s nothing. I just thought I wouldn’t make a friend out here.”

“Heyyy now, aren’t we moving a little too fast?” The man jokingly elbowed him.

“Well, you’re the one who stayed and talked to me in the first place!”

They both chuckled together at that, Daichi’s deep, warm laugh mixing with the stranger’s light one.

“I’m Sugawara Koushi, but my friends, which includes you by the way, call me Suga!” He reached out a hand to shake.

Daichi took it firmly, still smiling. “I’m Daichi. Daichi Sawamura.”

~~

The sounds of incoming crowds in the aquarium pulled Daichi from his reminiscing. He refocused on the water above him again, facing his fear one more time before he left. His chest tightened a little and the same apprehensive thoughts slowly trickled into his thoughts, but they buzzed in the back of his head. The memory of Suga was still in the front of his mind and seemed to be blocking his anxiety.

I guess Oikawa was right, he’ll be the only way I’ll ever appreciate water, he thought. Daichi’s heart warmed at that. He stood up, taking a calming breath, and walked out of the tunnel and left the aquarium.

It was a dry fall evening outside, darkened by empty clouds foretelling of an oncoming winter. Daichi was grateful he only lived a few blocks away from the aquarium, even with a thick jacket the wind still bit him.

Once he got to his little apartment, he headed straight to his room. Asahi and Ennoshita, who were his roommates along with his best friends, sat at the dining table studying and chatting.

“Oh, hey Daichi!” Ennoshita called to him. “There’s still some dinner left on the stove if you need some.”

Daichi shook his head. “Nah, I’m not hungry.”

“Say...” Ennoshita turned around in his chair, looking intently at Daichi, who stopped in the hall leading to his room. “You’ve been acting a little strange lately.”

“Oh... what do you mean?”

“Well, you’ve been to the aquarium a few times in the last couple months, and I thought you hated that place. Plus you went on that day-trip to that beach again after the class vacation? All by yourself? We even offered to go with you and you said no.”

Asahi made a weird smile next to Ennoshita and looked at Daichi knowingly. “Well… maybe he’s just trying to get over his fear of water.”

“By himself? After he’s been scared of it his entire life?” Ennoshita raised his eyebrows incredulously at Daichi.

“I don’t think he’s on his own on this.” Asahi smiled a little wider when Daichi felt himself flush a little.

“Wait.” Ennoshita stood up, looking back and forth between Asahi and a retreating Daichi. “Is there something you’re not telling me? Asahi? Hey, Daichi where do you think you’re going? Asahi, tell me what’s going on!”

Daichi fled to his room and locked the door, the sound of Ennoshita’s incessant questions muffled. He groaned in embarrassment and face-planted himself onto the bed. Of course Asahi probably knew what was going on with him and Suga. Daichi had told the both of them a only vague summary of his trip and how he’d become friends with Suga and that Oikawa…

That Oikawa. Daichi probably wouldn’t be stuck in this situation if it hadn’t been for him. Half of him was annoyed at him for deciding to shove himself into his love life and the other half was grateful that he’d helped him not make Suga hate him for being so scared of the water.

Daichi resisted the urge to suffocate himself with his pillow and turned his head, staring at the small blue wrapped box sitting on his desk. Oikawa had told him to give it to Suga whenever he decided to confess to him. That man sure did have high hopes about the future. Daichi didn’t even go to the same college as Suga, which was a few hours drive away from each other. They still called each other, but they were both pretty busy with college so they only ever spoke on weekends and late nights, with the occasional daytime text. Still, Oikawa insisted that he become their official matchmaker (though he only said this to Daichi) and oversee their ‘blossoming’ relationship. He was definitely delusional.

Still, Daichi clung to the bit of hope Oikawa’s romantic vision gave him (he would never admit that to him, he’d never hear the last of it) and still went along with what he said. Sitting up, he reached for the box and hugged his knees to his chest. Oikawa had explained to him what was in it and how important it was on the last day of that class vacation that he’d give it to Suga. Daichi just hoped it would be enough for them to get together after not seeing each other in such a long time.

~~

After their first meeting at the bus stop, Daichi and Suga ran into each other again later that same day at one of the restaurants in the seaside town, a little Korean BBQ. He’d been dragged there by his class, who he was pretty sure could care less if he came since he spoke to practically none of them.

He was standing behind the small crowd of his classmates waiting for a table when he heard someone call his name. He looked over his shoulder and saw Suga walking down the street towards him, waving. Another young man walked alongside him.

“Hey, Daichi! Fancy meeting you here!” Suga said, his usual smile on his face.

Daichi opened his mouth to greet him, but the man with Suga interrupted. “Suga, I’m pretty sure no one says that anymore.” He had brown hair parted on one side and sly brown eyes that looked Daichi up and down, as if he were assessing some work of art in a museum. That, paired with the confident little smirk on his face, suddenly annoyed Daichi and made him wish he weren’t here.

Suga punched the other man playfully on the shoulder. “Jeez, Oikawa, it’s a wonder I’m still your friend. You’ve made a great first impression on Daichi.” Oikawa laughed, a hearty sound that annoyed Daichi even more than his face.

“Well, I’m glad I can finally meet the infamous Daichi Sawamura. I’m Oikawa Tooru.” He, still smirking, offered a hand to Daichi, who took it reluctantly.

“Infamous?”

“Yep, Suga’s been rambling all day about you and the long friendly conversation you two had” Suga punched him again - was he blushing?”while I was sitting at the wrong bus stop for an hour without ever getting a concerned call or text from him.” He leaned dramatically against Suga, who, giggling, almost lost his balance. “It’s a wonder that I’m still your friend.”

Daichi barely kept himself from rolling his eyes. “Ah, well I’m sorry for the inconvenience that I caused you,” (not really), “But it’s nice meeting you again, Suga!” He smiled at him, ignoring Oikawa. Wow, why was he being so salty with Suga’s friend? Daichi wasn’t usually like this with people he didn’t like. He tended to be a lot more tolerant, but Oikawa was different for some reason.

Thankfully, Suga didn’t seem to notice and said eagerly, “It’s nice meeting you again, too!” He pushed Oikawa away from him when he loud-whispered ‘Fancy meeting you here’ to him in a dumb voice. Item number three to add to the list of ‘Why I don’t like Oikawa’. “Were you getting dinner here? Are those your friends?”

“Uh… well...” Daichi looked back at his classmates, who weren’t even glancing back at him.

Suga quickly read the situation and put a hesitant hand on Daichi’s shoulder. “You can eat with us if you’d like. Is that alright with them?”

Daichi nodded immediately, not even giving a second thought to his class. He’d rather deal with Oikawa than sit with ten people who acted like he was invisible. “Don’t worry, it’s cool with them.”

The trio walked inside and found a cozy corner table next to a window overlooking the ocean, but curiously, Daichi didn’t mind the view with Suga there. It was the same feeling he got as when Suga mentioned scuba diving earlier that day. The sea seemed more beautiful with him there. They ordered their food and talked about their reasons to visit this ocean town.

Suga and Oikawa, both studying marine biology, were on a personal project/vacation trip. They were studying sea life next to specific towns and checking levels of pollution and water toxicity. Thankfully this place was pretty clean and let them scuba-dive in the low depth areas.

When Daichi explained his reason and his predicament (he decided to leave out his fear of water, unsure how two marine biologists would feel talking to someone who was afraid of the very place they were researching in), Suga and Oikawa both fell quiet. For once, Oikawa wasn’t annoying him and was being genuine about his sympathy for Daichi’s situation.

“If your ‘friends’” Oikawa nodded over to the group across the restaurant from them. “Keep being assholes like that, you’re welcome to come hang out with us, and maybe you could come dive with us too.”

Daichi was, at first, pleasantly surprised by Oikawa’s offer to hang out, but that feeling was lost after he mentioned going underwater. He blinked and tried to breathe calmly, pushing back his racing mind taking over him. Why was his anxiety getting to him now? It hadn’t before when Suga was talking about the exact same thing.

“I-I’m sorry, but I don’t know how I feel about diving.” Daichi stammered, the nervousness obvious in his voice. He closed his eyes and put his head in his hands, feeling his meal churn a little in his stomach.

Breathe. Please, breathe.

“Daichi.” Suga’s voice made him look up into warm brown eyes. Suga was now sitting next to him. Daichi felt his stomach settle, seeing the concern and comfort looking back at him. “You were sitting there for a long minute… are you alright?”

Daichi nodded, unable to speak for a moment. “Y-yeah… I’m fine, it’s just been... a long day.” He noticed Oikawa frowning at him, but the expression faded into mild concern when he noticed Daichi looking at him.

The rest of the meal and conversation was tense, and Daichi only noticed late that his class was already heading out. Managing a short and awkward goodbye and thanking them both for the meal, Daichi rushed out into the cooling evening back to his hotel. His classmates, as expected, didn’t even glance up at him when he entered their room and flopped down onto his bed.

That was horrible. Having to explain his intense, irrational fear of water to anybody was hard for Daichi, and it was even worse when his brain decided to give him a panic attack before the people around him knew that. He wished so badly now that Asahi and Ennoshita were with him, they would’ve been there for him to explain.

Daichi sighed loudly, ignoring the dirty glances his classmates gave him. He definitely wouldn’t be able to face those two again. It looked like his trip was still going to be crap.

~~

Unexpectedly, Daichi found himself wandering the streets of the town the next morning looking for them. After not seeing them anywhere in the village, he decided to brace himself and go to the beach, the place he’d saved for last.

Daichi mentally prepared himself as he heard the growing sounds of waves rumbling against the beach. The asphalt road shifted to dirt then sand dotted with wild grass. He turned at the corner and saw, goofing off along the waterline, Suga and Oikawa. They were standing in the surf with their wetsuits on, pushing and splashing water at each other.

As Daichi walked closer, still trying to keep his thoughts in check, he could hear them laughing and yelling at each other. He was a few yards away when the two finally noticed him. They paused and looked at each other for a second before approaching him.

Daichi was fumbling for words to explain himself, but to Daichi’s surprise Suga smiled and greeted him as if nothing had happened the day before. Even Oikawa was his usual annoying self.

“Hey Daichi, how’s your morning been going?” 

Daichi blinked in surprise. “I’m… I’m really sorry about yesterday, I-I was-” Oikawa held up a hand to stop him.

“Hey. Don’t worry about it. It’s alright. I don’t know what’s up with you, but don’t blame yourself about it.”

Daichi was taken aback and comforted by the bothersome Oikawa Tooru. “Oh… thank you.”

“Does it have anything to do with your shit classmates?” Suga asked and looked over Daichi’s shoulder to make sure they weren’t there.

“Ah… not really.” He looked at the ground, unsure how to bring up his irrational fear.

“Hey, no judgement here.” Suga stepped closer to Daichi and tilted his head, trying to look him in the eye. “Just say whatever you gotta say.”

“It’s just that...” Daichi bit his lip, knowing his next words would sound ridiculous.

“I have a fear of water.”

There was a second of silence before Oikawa burst out laughing. He doubled over, wheezing, as Suga lightly kicked him to shut up, but he had a small smile on his face as well.

“Jeez, what happened to the no judgement thing?” Daichi’s face flushed defensively.

Oikawa managed to gasp for air before cackling, “You’re scared of water? What the hell are you doing here on the beach hanging out with two marine biologists?” He fell down on the sand and Suga kicked him one more time, shutting him up.

“Well… it must be a pretty bad phobia with how you reacted yesterday.” Suga wasn’t smiling anymore, but had the same look of concern on his face like he had in the restaurant. “I guess that makes this trip even worse for you.”

“Yeah...” Daichi joined Oikawa on the sand, trying not to think about the ocean lying not too far from him. Suga sat down next to him and they were all quiet for a moment.

“How long have you been scared of water?” Suga asked.

Daichi shrugged. “As long as I can remember.”

“Ever thought of trying to get over it?”

“Not really… my life has always been pretty far from water so I’d rather just never have to think about it.”

“That’s going to be a problem if we’re going to be friends,” Suga announced with sudden resolution. He stood up, dusting sand off of his wetsuit. “So, we’re going to hang out every day of this dumb trip you’re on and get over that fear while you’re here!”

Daichi frowned. “Uh, I don’t think-”

“-that this is a good idea? That we’ll probably never see each other after this?” Suga interrupted, taking the words right out of his mouth. “Well, I don’t care. I know this is going to be good for you. Every ‘bad idea’ I’ve ever had has ended me up here studying marine biology with this asshole,” gesturing at Oikawa, “And I don’t think I particularly regret it.”

Speechless, Daichi looked between Oikawa and Suga. “Is he always this assertive? He could be my personal motivational speaker.”

Oikawa smirked and shrugged. “He’s the only person that ‘this asshole’ will listen to.”

Now that he thought about it, Daichi was pretty sure Asahi and Ennoshita had never offered something like this. They knew and had seen the worst of his fear and were probably scared to try helping him get over it. They were good friends, of course, but he guessed knowledge was a barrier sometimes.

Looking at Suga, Daichi couldn’t help but smile again, feeling his anxiety settle down a bit. This was going to be an interesting week.

~~

Everyday, just as Suga had said, Daichi left his ‘shit classmates’ to go hang out with the two biologists. They slowly began incorporating him into their projects, giving him tasks that brought him closer to water.

“And when you start feeling anxious,” Suga said. “Try thinking of something good that that thing is related to. Like when I’m scared of heights, I like to think about sunsets on mountain peaks. You don’t have to tell us what it is, just something that makes you feel comfortable.”

Daichi already had that covered, as the first thing that came to mind was Suga, particularly the moment he’d mentioned himself scuba diving when they’d met at the bus stop. Eventually, the thing he thought of was just Suga himself.

When people started talking about the ocean, Daichi tended to start feeling nervous, but Suga was different. He could listen to him ramble all day about marine life and tectonic plates or whatever it was that went on in the sea and not let a single anxious thought bother him. It wasn’t the same for Oikawa though, Daichi was irritated enough by him that he’d shut him up any day.

By the last day of the trip, Daichi was walking comfortably along the beach and in shallow water, his anxiety in the back of his mind. It wasn’t like he was going to jump into the deep end anytime soon, but this was a good start, all thanks to Suga. He couldn’t wait to get back home and tell Asahi and Ennoshita about all this.

For dinner, the trio went to the same BBQ again. When Suga left to go to the bathroom, Oikawa suddenly scooted uncomfortably close to him and gave him an intense, unreadable look.

Suga’s friend had still been pretty annoying to Daichi over the course of the week, but he had learned to control his actions a little more and tolerate him. Despite that, Daichi still got the urge to punch Oikawa whenever he and Suga were having their friendly little arguments, letting Daichi watch. He wasn’t sure what to make of that feeling, and now Oikawa was approaching Daichi solo, which he’d never done before.

“Uh… do you need something from me?” Daichi asked, leaning away slightly.

“You like Suga, don’t you?”

It took a second for Daichi to process that. His face burned suddenly as he denied that. “What? No, we’ve only known each other for barely a week!”

Oikawa smirked his annoying smirk again as he sat back with a satisfied look. “Actually, it is technically a week, this is your last day here. And thank you for proving my theory.”

“Prove your-” Daichi spluttered. “I’m not proving anything, you’re just asking a dumb question!”

“Awh, poor Daichi doesn’t even realize his own feelings.” Oikawa laughed. “Let me guess,” he tapped his chin. “The thing you think about when you get anxious... it’s Suga, isn’t it?”

“How-”

Oikawa laughed triumphantly again. Daichi wanted to strangle him so badly now. “I guess I just have a thing for reading people.” He put his hands behind his head. “That, and it’s clear that you’re jealous of me.”

“Jealous?!” Daichi made up his mind, he was going to kill him.

“Now, now, calm down and hear me out.” Oikawa raised his hands as a gesture of peace. “I can tell that you’re annoyed at me, not only because I’m a natural asshole, but also your look whenever Suga and I get into our little debates. Also you don’t seem to get nervous whenever Suga starts monologuing about the ocean.”

Was Daichi really that obvious whenever that happened?

“Plus you smile like a lovesick puppy whenever you look at Suga. It’s a miracle that he hasn’t noticed that yet, with the way he feels about you.”

Wait. What?

“Yes, he likes you, too,” Oikawa nodded impatiently. “Don’t worry, we’re friends but I’m not stealing your man. Honestly, I can’t believe how dense you two are.”

Daichi struggled to comprehend everything Oikawa just said. Was he right? He tried to think about everything that had happened in the last week. He hadn’t really had time to ponder why Suga had made him so comfortable, or the reason behind his jealous feelings, with the topic of his anxiety constantly at the front of his mind. Maybe because Suga had made him feel so comfortable about him and helped him deal with his fear was the reason he was beginning to feel this way about him. Like he’d noticed before, none of his friends had ever helped him get over his fear, and this new decisiveness, friendliness, and confidence was… attractive? Not to mention that Suga wasn’t too bad looking either. Suddenly he realized Suga was the first person he could depend on wholly if he ever got anxious, even though Suga had never seen the worst of panic attacks.

“Well, Suga has confessed all his gushy feelings to me this morning, though I was already quite well aware of them,” Daichi had a feeling that Oikawa had more annoyed them out of him. “But he doesn’t seem to realize how you feel about him. So,” Oikawa stretched his fingers, as if he were getting ready for a workout. “I have an entire plan for you two to get together.”

Daichi slow-blinked at him. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Don’t you worry a thing about it, I know I definitely can’t trust either of you in growing this relationship.” The desire to punch him was back again. “Admit it, you definitely don’t know how to deal with your feelings.”

Daichi groaned quietly, accepting defeat.

Oikawa grinned and rubbed his hands together. “Hey now, don’t start complaining. I’m Suga’s official boyfriend/girlfriend approver, so that officially makes me yours too.”

He quickly explained that they’d still be in contact with each other, working on lessening his fear as Suga wanted (of course), in order to become closer friends. Then for the confession, Daichi would bring Suga on a little trip to the nearby aquarium (just as any creepy matchmaker would, Oikawa had done a little background research on his college and the place nearby) and give him a special present, funded by Oikawa himself.

“A shell?” It was a small pale pink conch shell streaked with red and white.

Oikawa nodded solemnly. “It’s a bit of a long story, I’ll text you later about it. For now, just keep it safe and don’t show it to Suga.” He wrapped it carefully in a cloth napkin from the restaurant (this man would steal for his match) and placed it in Daichi’s messenger bag.

With the whole plan laid out, they sat in silence for a moment.

“Why do you care so much about Suga? And me?” Daichi asked.

Oikawa sighed heavily. “Well… there was a time that I fell for Suga too. But the difference between you and me is that he never liked me back. I watched him go after another person and… to put it lightly, his heart got broken. From then on I realized it really would be better if we were just friends. And I was gonna make sure he never got hurt that bad ever again.” He stared at Daichi unwaveringly, as if challenging him to just try and hurt Suga under his watch.

Daichi smiled gratefully. “Well, as annoying as you are, I’m glad you’re his friend.”

Oikawa laughed, and it was the first genuine laugh from him that didn’t annoy Daichi for once.

Suga returned from the bathroom not a moment after that (‘Jeez, how big of a shit did you take?’ Oikawa asked.) and they finished their meal. They went out onto the beach to watch the setting sun as their farewell to each other. Daichi had to admit he did cry a little saying goodbye and Oikawa definitely teared up a little.

From the moment Oikawa had pointed out his feelings to the last hug he got from Suga that was just a second longer than he’d expected, realization of his love for Suga grew exponentially. As he walked back to the hotel his class was staying in, Daichi could definitely say he was in love with Sugawara Koushi.

~~

Today.

Daichi sat at his desk in his room, having a staring contest with the blue box.

Today, Suga and Oikawa were coming over.

And today, Daichi would confess his feelings to Suga.

It was a week after his last visit to the aquarium, and unfortunately Ennoshita and Asahi now knew all about Daichi’s love and the exciting plan Oikawa had come up with. They, of course, had no objection to this plan, and even supported it, mentioning his past embarrassingly short and failed relationships when Oikawa decided to check in with a call. No wonder Daichi fell for Suga, all his friends were backstabbers.

It’s alright, Daichi told himself. Oikawa said that Suga definitely felt the same way about him still, and this shell would be the best confession gift he could ever get him.

The story behind the shell had indeed been a long one, as it was a result of a bet during one of their friendly arguments. The shell had been something Oikawa had found while they were working on a college project and both of them wanted to keep it. At the time, Oikawa had just got out of a relationship and Suga joked that he wouldn’t be the best matchmaker if he couldn’t maintain a relationship himself. And so, the shell and responsibility of being matchmaker were combined and Oikawa said he would give the shell to Suga if he’d proved himself a good matchmaker. That bet was made two years ago, and in all that time Suga hadn’t had a boyfriend or girlfriend.

“I hope you aren’t gonna start a relationship with that box, you’re staring at it so much.” Asahi’s voice made Daichi jump in his seat and turn. His friend smiled at him while he scowled. He hoped Asahi wouldn’t become a second Oikawa to him with that smirk he’d adopted recently.

“What do you want?”

Asahi nodded his head out the hall, smiling wider. “They’re here.”

~~

Oikawa and Suga made themselves right at home in the apartment, shedding their heavy jackets and taking a seat on the living room couch. Ennoshita and Asahi took their place on the remaining two chairs around the low coffee table, forcing Daichi to sit next to Suga on the couch. He glared at his roommates, who grinned right back, as Oikawa began conversation.

The topic started with college and slowly drifted towards the summer trip and Daichi’s anxiety. At this point, Daichi was too focused on Suga sitting next to him, his right side pressed against Suga’s left, to bother worrying about the talk about the ocean.

“Hey, Daichi. Daichi?”

Daichi snapped his head up, noticing Suga’s hand on his shoulder. “Oh, uh, sorry, what is it?”

“Oikawa was asking if you were ready to go to the aquarium for the special tour.”

“Oh yes, sorry. I am.”

The ‘special tour’ just mentioned was set up by Oikawa and a friend of his who happened to work at the aquarium (curse and thank you for knowing Oikawa, Iwaizumi). In reality, Iwaizumi was just letting Suga, Oikawa, and Daichi into the aquarium after hours, where Oikawa would then abandon the soon-to-be couple to make their confessions. Daichi was only glad that Asahi and Ennoshita wouldn’t be tagging along.

Grabbing his jacket and the blue box from his room, which he pocketed, the trio stepped out into the dark cold evening.

~~

“So… where’s this special tour gonna be? Are we going to see the turtles?”

Suga looked curiously around the empty aquarium lobby, softly lit and quiet except for gentle music and the sound of water flowing in some far off exhibit.

“Just down this hall, I’ll take you there.” Iwaizumi said, leading them past branching rooms filled with hundreds of different marine life.

Oikawa skipped (yes, he literally skipped) up next to Iwaizumi and took a hold of one of his arms. “Thanks so much for the favor, Iwa-chan!”

“Don’t call me that. You owe me, and if I get caught, I’ll just tell them you three broke in.” Oikawa just laughed at ‘Iwa-chan’s’ threat, still clinging to him.

Another friend that Oikawa annoyed. Daichi was glad he and Suga weren't alone.

Speaking of Suga, Daichi glanced at him. He seemed pretty oblivious to this strange situation, staring and smiling open-mouthed at all the animals around him. Daichi just hoped he wouldn’t be disappointed for not getting a special tour of the aquarium.

“Alright, we’re here.”

They had stopped next to the glass tunnel Daichi had visited so often, but the lighting was different. This time, gentle blue lighting shone from bulbs sitting in the ground and a full moon shone through the dark water above. Fish and sea mammals that swam near the glass and the surface reflected both sources of light against their sleek bodies, creating a captivating dance of flashes and shadows.

“So… I’ll go get the - uhm - researchers and let them know you’re here.” Iwaizumi hurriedly stalked out of the tunnel, Oikawa tagging along with him.

“Ooh, I’ll come with you!” He flashed a peace sign back at Daichi and Suga and they were suddenly left alone.

“... didn’t Iwaizumi just say that we weren’t supposed to be in here…?” Suga asked.

Daichi laughed nervously, but thankfully Suga didn’t seem to suspect anything else. The two stood there in awkward silence, watching sea creatures flit by the glass.

“Uhm… how has your anxiety been doing? You don’t seem too bothered by being in here.”

Daichi quietly thanked the universe for a topic of conversation. “It’s been going pretty well! I feel like I’ve been able to enjoy the ocean more lately because of you.” He mustered some confidence and smiled at Suga. He smiled back in pleasant surprise (was he blushing? Daichi couldn’t tell in this light), making Daichi’s heart skip a beat.

“Oh! Well, I’m glad that I’ve been helping.”

“Are you kidding? The only reason I ever even started to think about getting over my fear was because of you. And I’d definitely be more lonely without you.” Daichi felt his face flush at the last part, but he kept looking steadily at Suga.

“And I could say the same.”

They held eye contact for a long moment. Daichi’s heartbeat quickened and he felt himself lean ever so slightly forward, but he caught himself. They looked away from each other simultaneously and went back to gazing at the water.

The box sat heavily in Daichi’s pocket and he could feel his heartbeat against his palm. Should he take out the box now? No, it felt too soon. He traced the edge of the little blue cube nervously, trying to reach for something to talk about.

Suga saved them both from silence again with an unexpected question.

“If you don’t mind me asking, but… what do you think of when you get nervous? Like when you’re near water.”

“Oh… I… ” Daichi wasn’t sure how to respond. He’d thought he’d sound like a creep if he said he thought about Suga, but at the same time it seemed like the perfect confession. Just then, in the dark aquarium glass, Daichi noticed Suga was looking at him by their reflections.

“Sorry, that was a really personal question. I shouldn’t have asked.” Suga looked away from him and stared down the hall where Iwaizumi and Oikawa had left with a regretful expression. “Maybe we should go look for-”

“Wait!” Suga was taking a step away from him when Daichi instinctively took a hold of one of his arms. They paused in that pose before Daichi quickly let go and stepped back, feeling his hand gripping the box in his pocket tightly.

“I...”

Suga looked at him with hesitant hope.

“Yes?”

“I… I think of you.”

Suga blinked, caught a little off-guard.

“You think of me?”

“Yes,” Suddenly a rush of unsaid words that Daichi had held back for five months came pouring out. He knew exactly what he wanted to tell Suga. “I think of you every time I get anxious. I think of you every time I come here. I thought of you every time we visited that beach on that dumb trip I had to go on, I thought of you everytime you rambled to me about your biology projects, I think of you everytime someone even says the word ‘ocean’, or ‘sea’, or anything mildly marine-related, I think of you everytime some horrible memory of my panic attacks come up. I can’t stop thinking about you, and now it’s starting to feel like I come here just so I have a good excuse to think of you. But I can’t stop thinking about you even after I leave here. Wherever the ocean is, wherever I am, I can feel you there, even if you’re not with me. I-I… You… You mean so much to me. And… I love you.”

Daichi had unknowingly stepped closer to Suga and they were just a foot away from each other. His face was probably completely red and he was out of breath from his long confession, but he didn’t care. The burden he hadn’t known he was carrying since that summer trip was off of him and now Suga knew how he felt.

Suga stared back at him in shock. His face also looked flushed and he covered his mouth with his hands, not knowing what to say.

Daichi took his hand out of his pocket, still gazing into Suga’s eyes, and offered the blue box to him. Suga pulled his hands away from his face and broke eye contact, slowly opening the package. He stared at the small pink and red shell sitting there, a ray of moonlight glinting off of it.

“Oikawa put you up to this, didn’t he?”

A hint of doubt creeped up on Daichi at that question, but Suga suddenly laughed, the happy sound echoing in the tunnel, erasing the thought.

He looked up at Daichi, smiling with seemingly endless joy.

“Well, whatever he did, thank God for that asshole!” Suga threw his arms around Daichi’s neck and kissed him straight on the lips.

Daichi’s heart exploded into a gallop, adrenaline rushing through him and his skin tingling where Suga’s faces pressed against his. After standing frozen for a moment, Daichi wrapped his arms back around Suga, kissing him back.

Suga pulled back suddenly, pressing his hands against Daichi’s chest. “Oh… I’m sorry, I-I should’ve asked-” Daichi cupped a hand around Suga’s face, shutting him up and drawing him closer again.

“It’s okay. I would’ve kissed you too.” He leaned forward and kissed Suga before he could say anything else. This time, Daichi enjoyed Suga more. The feeling of his nose next to his felt so perfect, along with the curve of his lips sitting against his mouth. He reached up one hand and ran it through Suga’s hair, enjoying the silky strands brushing past his fingers. Suga’s hands reached up and slid around his neck, giving his goosebumps at the touch of his skin. Daichi wanted to stand there with him forever, in a place he’d hated so much not so long ago, now somewhere that would always remind him of the man he loved…

But that asshole decided to interrupt their moment.

“You two done?” Oikawa’s voice made the both of them jump and look up to see him leaning against the aquarium wall, watching them.

“Oikawa, are you kidding me?” Suga left Daichi’s arms and pummeled Oikawa’s shoulder, his face turning bright red.

Oikawa laughed. “Well, I thought I’d stop you there before things got too out of hand.” He winked and elbowed Suga, who rolled his eyes and walked back over to Daichi, taking his hand.

Iwaizumi came up behind Oikawa and grabbed him by the hood of his jacket, beginning to drag him towards the exit. “Alright, your fun is over, you all are leaving before I lose my job.” Oikawa protested, stumbling to keep up with him as Daichi and Suga laughed.

Hand-in-hand, the two followed Oikawa into the chilly fall night and enjoyed each other’s warmth as they headed back to the apartment. The silence between them was now comfortable and Daichi could feel the smile on Suga’s face without even looking at him.

“Thank you, Suga.” Daichi paused in the street, taking both of Suga’s hands. Light snow was beginning to fall around them.

“What for?”

“Everything.”

Daichi pulled Suga into a hug, burying his face against his jacket. As he let go, he looked back at the aquarium, its lobby lights just flickering off.

The next time Daichi went there, he knew that he had nothing to be afraid about.


	3. Day 3: Crimes/Mythology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sugawara is a cat burglar on a special assignment from an anonymous client, and his mission takes on a turn much more fantastical than he's ever experienced...
> 
> This is sort of an experiment of a Kane Chronicles AU! Enjoy <3

Shrill alarms screamed into the night, shattering the solemn silence of the museum. Red lights flashed at the entrance of each exhibit as Suga, silently cursing himself, sprinted past them. Taking a swift glance behind him, he could see the shadows of the museum guards running past a nearby doorway, shouting into their walkie-talkies as they tried to look for him.

Suga took advantage of the darkness and his black outfit and ducked into a random room, diving behind an unlit display box. As he tried to catch his breath, he glared down at the small carved figurine in his hand, grimacing at the trouble it had caused him before shoving it into one of the pockets on his tactical vest.

Sugawara Koushi, a professional catburglar, was on a special assignment from an anonymous client, who’d requested him to steal an ancient Egyptian statue from the British Museum. Typically, Suga didn’t take commissions from clients he couldn’t do a background check on, but the payment was astonishingly high. Sure, breaking into the British Museum was no easy task, but a job like this for an item that could fit into the palm of his hand was definitely worth the money. Along with that, the anon had given Suga enough information to prove that they weren’t just trying to bait him into being caught.

Getting in, overriding security, and opening the display box was simple. It took him only a week to plan this with the long experience he had under his belt. He was pretty sure he had checked and deactivated all the alarms and sensors in proximity of the exhibition. If there were any cameras he’d accidentally left on, he was wearing a plain black mask as a precaution. After setting down the fake in the place of the statue he had just stolen, Suga replaced everything as it had been before.

It should have gone as planned, but just as he was stepping out of the room, the alarms were suddenly triggered on their own and here he was, about to get caught. Suga had no idea what set off the alarms, but they were going to send him to prison for quite some time if he didn’t get out in time.

Suga peeked his head around the display box and immediately pulled back seeing the guards just outside the room he was in. Straining to hear their conversation, he could hear they were trying to get all the lights back on. Damn. As soon as that happened, he would be caught with nowhere to run since his only exit was blocked. There had to be another way out of here.

Taking stock of his situation, Suga saw that he was in one of the Egyptian collections, particularly themed around the Underworld. After ten years of working in the field of cat burglary, Suga knew a library full of information on the cultures and mythologies of several cultures and ethnicities. He recognized sarcophagi, wall reliefs of the gods of the underworld, jars that one held the insides of mummies, and hundreds of other artifacts collected from tombs. A few yards in front of him stood a lone stone sarcophagus on a pedestal, its face and hieroglyphs chipped away with the passage of time.

Billions of dollars of relics sat around Suga, but no free way of escape. There wasn’t even a window in here. He could hear a couple guards walk into the room and see their flashlights flicker on, beaming onto the opposite side of the room. Shrinking as close as he could against the display case, Suga’s eyes whipped around him with increasing panic, desperately looking for a way out. Suga could fight the guards, but that was always his last resort. It seemed now he’d have to take it.

Suga reached into a pocket on the belt strapped around his chest and pulled out a handheld taser. He also had a knife and gun, but he hoped he didn't have to use those.

Taking a deep breath, Suga prepared himself to fight his way out, when the light from one of the guard’s flashlights flashed by on the sarcophagus in front of him. Momentarily, one of the hieroglyphs glowed a little brighter than the rest, catching Suga’s attention. It was a thin five-pointed star inscribed in a circle:

𓇽

As the light passed, the hieroglyph continued to glow. Suga stared, not sure what to make of it. He knew what that symbol meant. A faint memory tingled in the back of his head, itching at his curiosity. Why was it glowing like that?

He didn’t have time to worry about that, with the guards’ footsteps just a few displays away. Torn by desire to investigate and worry for his own safety, he paused a moment too soon and he could see the polished black boot of the guard swing right next to him-

BANG!

The foot suddenly changed its course, facing the entrance of the room. Suga could smell smoke and hear the crackling of a fire. The guards ran from the room towards the burning, yelling at each other for backup.

Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, Suga glanced carefully from behind the display box. All the guards were standing in the doorway, their backs towards him and investigating the fire which looked like it was in the room just across the hall.

Seeing that he was somewhat safe, Suga turned back to the weird glowing hieroglyph to see it gone. In its place stood something even stranger.

A rectangle of pure darkness hovered in front of the sarcophagus, about as big as a typical doorway. It was so black that the dark room around him seemed well-lit under the still flashing red lights. Suga got up from his curled up position, still crouching, and took another glance over his shoulder before scooting forward to the rectangle to inspect it more closely. He pulled off his mask, stuffing it in one of his pockets, trying to get a better look. Taking a side angle, he could see it had practically no width and was invisible from the other side.

He sat back, debating what to do next. The guards were far enough away and distracted that he could probably sneak past without them noticing, but on the other hand, Suga had never seen something like this in all his jobs.

He reached a hand out to it.

This was probably a bad idea, he thought. But he went on with the motion, and stuck his hand into the darkness. It went into it painlessly. Suga paused then reached the rest of his arm and peeked around it to the other side. His limb was completely gone, but he could still feel it move and brush past air. When he pulled his arm out, it was unharmed and seemed normal.

“A portal…?” It felt dumb saying that out loud, but it made the most sense to him. Why else was his arm disappearing when he put it through the darkness? During his research of Egyptian mythology, there had been the occasional mention or two about methods of travel using spells performed by ancient Egyptian magicians, but he’d never believed them.

The glowing hieroglyph flashed in his mind and its meaning appeared.

“Duat.”

But what did that have to do with any of this?

“Hey!” A shout made Suga whip his head around to see a guard pointing at him, the fire seemingly put out behind them. The guard began running towards him, forcing Suga to choose. He was a few steps away from being caught when he leapt into the dark doorway, hoping he hadn’t made the wrong choice.

~~

As soon as he passed through, Suga’s world was enveloped in darkness. His stomach tingled, as if he were falling on a rollercoaster ride, but the feelings disappeared as quickly as they came.

In a moment he was standing on the other side and fell down, his mind disoriented. Falling over, Suga felt wood make contact with his hands and knees. He closed his eyes as he felt his stomach gurgle, trying to keep down the nausea.

“You alright?”

A voice above Suga made him jump up and almost fall over again.

In front of Suga was a man around his age, smiling at him. He had tanned skin and short dark brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a black leather jacket and skinny jeans, complimented with a blank white t-shirt. A gold pendant hung around his neck in the odd shape of a circle on a line. He held a long slender staff in one hand, a cord with other amulets tied around the top of the smooth pale wood.

“Who… wha...” Suga stared at the scenery around him. He was standing on some sort of wrap-around patio on a Japanese style building, judging by the shoji screen doors. Ancient wooden rafters hung above him, stretching beyond the patio and holding up a curved tiled roof. Twisting pines stood next to the building, so was probably on the third or fourth story of the building. A cool wind breezed by him as he stared at a rising sun across a wide river dotted with boats. And in the distance…

“Where the hell- Is that Skytree?”

The man laughed. “I’m surprised how well you’re taking all of this!” Suga tensed, gripping the taser still in his hand.

“Oh, don’t bother using that,” The man nodded at his weapon, still smiling. “It won’t help you anyways.”

Suga glared at him, buzzing the taser at him. “Want me to try it out?”

He completely ignored the threat and leaned coolly against the wooden rail of the patio. “Now, now, let’s have a friendly conversation. You’re probably wondering why you’re here.”

Suga did, actually, but he hated being dismissed like that. Advancing, he raised the electrocutor, but the man spoke an odd word and flicked his staff. A symbol flashed in the air in Suga’s face, blinding him momentarily and sending a jolt of pain through him. The taser clattered to the floor. Grabbed the front of Suga’s vest, the man slammed him against the floor of the patio, pinning him to the ground with a knee to the chest.

Suga gasped in pain, his entire head throbbing. He grabbed the man’s knee and tried to push him off, but the weight was too much. Suga scowled up at him and the expression faded immediately after seeing the expression on his face.

Now the man was the one doing the glaring. His welcoming face folded into a snarl, his brown eyes flashing gold like his pendant glinting in the morning light.

“I thought I asked that we have a friendly conversation,” His voice was deadly serious. “You seemed like a more sensible person, but of course, I wouldn’t expect that if you can’t recognize any of this.”

Suga was unsure of what he meant, but he didn’t care. This guy scared him bad. Being a cat burglar was a dangerous job that dealt with dangerous people, but Suga had never been disarmed that quickly, not to mention without even making contact first. He could recognize a threat and this man was definitely one of them.

“I have a feeling you get me?” The man asked. Suga nodded slowly. The man eased his knee off of his chest and stood up, dusting off his leather jacket. It amazed Suga how quickly he regained his composure, returning to leaning against the patio railing.

Suga got up, wincing. “So… why am I here? What the hell was that thing back in the museum?” Remembering the dark portal, he looked behind him and saw nothing there.

“Ah, yes, I should introduce myself. I’m your client.”

Suga frowned. “My what?”

“Your client. I asked you get me that statue?” The man pointed his staff at his vest. Suga flinched, thinking he was going to throw some symbol at him again, but realized he was talking about the figurine still in his vest pocket. The man chuckled as Suga’s face burned, taking out the statue. It was a wooden carving of the Egyptian god of death, Anubis, remaining bits of aging gold and black paint clinging to the faded surface.

Suga tossed it a little harder than necessary to the man, who caught it one-handed. “Thanks.” He said, and pocketed it.

“What did you need it for? You still haven’t told me why I’m here. In Tokyo. I was just in London a few minutes ago, which is also thousands of miles away.”

“I can’t tell you that right now.” Daichi’s raised eyebrows made Suga avoid that topic, so he persisted with another.

”Was that heist just a set-up? You seemed awfully prepared to meet me here...”

The man thought for a second. “Somewhat of a set-up. I did actually need this statue, but I also needed to meet you.”

“Then why couldn’t you have just contacted me? Why all the anonymity?”

“You’re a cautious person, I can tell. You probably get a lot of fishy requests to meet up, so I figured that heist would be the best way to catch your attention.”

Internally, Suga was surprised this man knew this much about him. He’d never seen him in his life before, and his request forum on the dark web had solid security. But he was going to let it show that that bothered him.

“So you planned on me getting almost caught? Just so I’d jump through that creepy doorway?”

“Wow, you sure do ask a lot of questions… you really don’t remember me? Or this place?”

Suga shook his head. He was beginning to get really irritated how he was constantly dodging questions.

The man opened his mouth to say something, but he stayed quiet, his eyes far-off. He turned his head to the side slightly like he was listening to someone. There was a long silence before he spoke again.

“Nevermind. I guess this is all too much to explain to you right now. You should probably go.”

Suga stared at him in disbelief. “Excuse me? You’re just telling me to leave after what just happened? These past thirty minutes have been the most insane in my entire life and you’re telling me to go? Also what was that just now? Were you talking to someone?”

“You’re really observant and don’t know how to shut up,” The man laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Don’t worry. You'll get your answers soon. Sorry for having to cut our meeting short.”

“When is ‘soon’? Where am I supposed to even go from here?”

“Calm down, I’ll let you know. Man, you sure do talk a lot.” The man said another weird word and more symbols flashed in the air. He reached to the side, his arm disappearing for a moment then reappearing with a small bundle. Suga stared at all this, wide-eyed, almost dropping the package tossed to him.

“I guess you can’t explain that either.”

The man smiled and nodded. “You’re learning quickly.”

Suga inspected the package, roughly the size of a phonebook. “What’s this supposed to be?”

“Your payment. In cash, all of them 100 US dollar bills.”

At this point, Suga was at a loss of what to do or say. He was still struggling to process everything that had happened, and apparently he had been here before? He racked his brain, trying to pull up some memory about Japan and anything Egypt-related.

“This isn’t going to be my last commission from you,” the man said, raising his staff again. More odd words and symbols, and the dark portal appeared next to him. “We’ll meet again. But for now, I don’t want you to think about this. Don’t investigate anything about this place, I can’t risk having anything happen to you after this.”

“You’re making no sense. No way I’m going to ignore all of this-” Suga stopped as the man twirled his staff threateningly. “All right, all right, I won’t. And where’s your death portal taking me now?”

The man smirked. “Back to your home in Miyagi.”

Suga threw his hands in the air. “Well, it looks like I have a stalker now.” The man laughed at that. He stepped up to the portal, but paused before he left.

“I never got your name, by the way. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna look you up, that stick of yours scares me enough already.”

“Daichi Sawamura. Pleasure to meet you.”

“And I’m guessing you already know mine?”

Daichi nodded at Suga. “Until we meet again.”

Suga stepped through reluctantly and regretted not taking one last look as he felt his stomach drop and darkness surrounded him.

~~

Sure enough, when Suga stumbled out of the portal, he was back in his small home in Miyagi. He stood in silence for a solid minute, trying to take in the familiar stacks of paper and filled cork boards hanging on the walls. He tossed the package of cash onto the table, not bothering to count the bills, and flopped onto the couch. His brain still hadn't recovered from that encounter, and now knowing that he’d apparently been at that building before, he couldn’t stop replaying memories and prying into old crevices of the past.

Forgetting about the threat of Daichi’s staff, Suga began searching through his old databases and papers.

Daichi Sawamura.

Japan.

Egypt.

Egyptian relics.

Tokyo museum.

Hundreds of keywords flew through his mind and brought up nothing. What was he missing? Did he just happen to lose those memories, or were they somehow taken from him? He rubbed his face, pressing his fingers against his eyeballs as if he could squeeze his memories out his brain.

Anubis.

Of course. That single word was so obvious. He began typing it in. The Anubis figurine, the pendant hanging around Daichi’s neck, which was the symbol of Anubis and-

Suga stood up from his desk, grabbing his head as something slowly came into focus in his mind. This was it, wasn’t it? What he was missing? He remembered how Daichi’s eyes flashed gold when they met, and how he’d turned his head like he was listening to someone. It was right there. What was it? What was it?

Whatever it was, it blurred away frustratingly. Suga slammed his fist down on the desk. He was going to find out what was up with this Daichi Sawamura.

He had to find him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaand thank you for reading this late night day 3 entry! I'm sorry the end isn't very strong and some details might be a little weird, but I really wanted to get this out on time!  
> Maybe I'll write more separate stories on this, and if I do, I hope this story interested you! <3


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